Germantown is the 2017 Curbed Cup Neighborhood of the Year

Philly, we have a winner: Germantown is Philadelphia's Curbed Cup Neighborhood of the Year!

After winning multiple rounds of the Curbed Cup tournament and ultimately defeating its closest Northwest Philly neighborhood, Mt. Airy, the No. 13 ranked Germantown is officially the Best Neighborhood of 2017.

Germantown started off the tournament facing stiff competition with No. 3-ranked University City. But it handily defeated the West Philly neighborhood, moving onto booming Northern Liberties in the Elite 8 round. After soaring past its fifth-ranked competitor, Germantown then made a huge upset when it defeated Fishtown, the reigning Curbed Cup Neighborhood of the Year, in the Final Four.

Then, in perhaps one of the most unexpected twists of Curbed Cup Philly, Germantown and Mt. Airy—both Northwest Philly neighborhoods—ended up in the championship. The two neighborhoods battled each other back and forth, vote after vote, until finally, Germantown squeaked out 50.59 percent of votes, surpassing Mt. Airy by just 47 votes.

There you have it: The underdog Germantown has been crowned by Curbed readers the Best Neighborhood of the Year. Congratulations, Germantown: 2017 was your year. We can’t wait to see what’s in store for 2018!

Illustration by Kevin Whipple